Cut-and-Paste...

   A truly exceptional friend that LCPS was lucky enough to have as part of its staff posted something on Facebook and asked that we cut-and-paste it along with a description of how we met as a show of friendship and solidarity.  There were many replies already and I wanted to add mine to the mix.

   Try as I might, the Facebook mobile app wouldn't cut-and-paste anything for me, so here - in part - is my response to her... 

We met at the LCPS administrative retreat in Williamsburg where my smart-aleck, "Hey, you're not IN Goochland anymore, 'kay?" got its start.  And Facebook Mobile (at least mine, anyway) won't let me cut-and-paste, so I'd have to Share this and it clearly says I shouldn't share and then it would be like "Chuck Moss shared Heather Larabee's status," and everybody would be like, "did he NOT read that?" and they'd message me and I'd respond to a few and then just end up commenting on my own post to say that I DID read it, but I couldn't copy and paste it and then I'd get some comments that asked if I'd tried so-and-so for Facebook for iPhone that lets you cut-and-paste stuff and it's a free download from the iTunes Store and I'd say, "no, but I heard about it," even if I hadn't...

   The reply was to be one word.  Oh, well.  If you've never met Heather, you should!  She was absolutely great as our math specialist in Louisa, helping me in my development of an electronic observation tool for math teachers and in the alignment of our math curriculum.  Since leaving Louisa she's taken the risk of following the American Dream and opening a Mathnasium learning center in Elk Grove, California.  On top of that, she's a tireless advocate for the search for a cure for MS, for which I simply can't thank her enough.  She's one of those people that the West Coast shared with us on the East Coast for a few years before she headed back to California to follow her dreams.

   So, what's the point today?  Well, maybe I couldn't cut-and-paste, but the sentiment was clear.  And Heather may be gone from Virginia, but - like all friends - you can't say she's "cut" from here so she could be "pasted" somewhere else.  Her mark, like the mark of all the people in our lives that have made an impact, is indelible; it is not to be "cut" out.  If anything, more people in more places will get to benefit for Heather's mark and, as with all people who make the world better, that can only serve to improve the world. 

   We all have friends like Heather, and my challenge for us is that we arrive to be the people they believe us to be.  Imagine a world where we were all the people our friends see when they look at us?  I don't know about you, but that would certainly make me a more forgiving and far less judgmental person.

   Incidentally, there's no app for that.

   The wagon rolls on.  Thanks for riding shotgun (it's a valuable spot).